I am a Windows user and have been for about 10 years

Are you thinking about buying a PC or laptop with Windows Vista? Read this first.

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I am a Windows user and have been for about 10 years. When I started in multimedia and graphics development I worked exclusively in an Apple environment. I like Apple products and love the features and cool interfaces but I think they are over priced considering I can accomplish the same things with a Windows machine that I can with a Mac and not spend the money it cost to purchase Apple or Mac products. That is until Vista came along. I hate it when I hear people say that something sucks. I just think it is a very crude expression and one I rarely choose to use. That is until now. Vista sucks. And it sucks big time.

I was coerced into buying a machine with the Vista operating system on it. My laptop crashed and burned last year and I went to my favorite computer store Microcenter in Saint David's Pennsylvania to buy a new laptop. St. David's is a suburb of Philadelphia. I love this store. They have great prices and great selection. They sell computers and peripherals in what you could call a computer department store set-up. I buy all my computer stuff there.

Ok, so I'm there pricing laptops and I see one that is in my price range and it has Windows Vista factory installed. But get this I go to pay for it and I'm told it does not have enough memory to run Vista. So I ask then why is Vista installed on it? The salesman says this is just the way it comes from the factory. (Hey, if anyone reading this has any information about a class action suit regarding this rip off let me know. I'm in.) So I have to spend an additional $79.00 to upgrade my RAM in order to run Windows Vista on my new laptop.

That was last August. I get the laptop home and I find out that now my Adobe Acrobat 6.0 does not run on Vista without some major incompatibility issues. My marketing software Web Position now will not submit pages to the search engines. These are two of my most used apps that are now rendered almost useless because of Vista. Over the past 6 months Vista crashes, freezes and craps out on me more than my Windows XP system ever did. I plan on buying a new laptop soon and I'm going to insist that they install Windows XP on it or I think I'm going to have to go back to using Apple products all over again.

David Jackson

Internet marketing expert Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to successfully start, build, and grow their own profitable online businesses on small budgets. To get instant access to the step-by-step strategies, tools, and resources he's used to grow just $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit: http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/4012

Free Software

The Next Generation Of Virus Protection Technology Has Arrived! Arm Your Business With This Amazing FREE Software Before Disaster Strikes...

And You Lose Big Bucks!

In the March 2000 issue of Marketing Tips, we provided our subscribers with an extensive article on virus protection. (Click here to read "Protecting Yourself Against Major Meltdowns".) While this article gave our subscribers some GREAT information about virus protection, we have just recently discovered a fabulous new technology that we think you will be quite interested in.

It is the next generation of virus protection and it is being referred to as Proactive Anti-Virus Software.

You see, virus scanning software was originally developed to combat viruses passed by floppy disks. Therefore, the software available from such virus experts as McAffee, Symantec, and Dr. Solomon is not really practical for dealing with the faster spreading viruses that are being passed around by e-mail at top speeds.

Remember the "ILOVEYOU" virus disaster? Who could forget?! The world was stunned this past spring as we witnessed the infamous Love Bug do $700 million worth of damage, sweeping the globe in only five short hours.

Regular virus scanning technology is no match for the new generation of viruses that spread by e-mail at lightening speeds. Why? Because your virus scanning software only recognizes KNOWN viruses. This means that if you are not regularly updating your software as you should be... or if the virus is so new that MacAffee or Symantec have not yet had a chance to post an update... your system is vulnerable to whatever new virus is storming the Web.

So while you should definitely still be using virus scanning technology, you should be using it in conjunction with the new generation of virus-protection products that have recently appeared on the market.

What am I talking about? Sandboxing!

This proactive anti-virus technology basically involves enclosing a running application in what is called a "sandbox". The sandbox is responsible for trapping downloaded applications in a controlled environment such as the temporary files folder where it monitors them for malicious code.

This means that before you have a chance to release a potentially harmful virus into your network, the software will lock it away from critical network resources.

For example, let's say that you receive an e-mail from a good friend of yours that contains an attachment titled "I Am Not A Virus". Being a trusting person, you unwittingly open what is actually a nasty virus that has been sending itself out through peoples' address books.

Uh oh! Now what?!

Well, you're in luck! You recently installed some proactive anti-virus software on your system. A wise move on your part. The software immediately traps the malicious code in the safe zone (the sandbox) and refuses to allow it access to addresses in Outlook or Eudora.

Your system is safe!

This software is GREAT because it allows you to trap
malicious code... even previously unknown viruses!

For example, folks who were using this technology did not experience any problems with the ILOVEYOU virus. The virus was enclosed safely in the sandbox because the software recognized it as a potential threat to the system's integrity.

Proactive anti-virus software is still a relatively new technology. However, the following companies offer some great FREE downloads, perfect for the small business owner:

• Computer Associates (www.cai.com) offer Mail Watcher and eTrust Content Inspection Personal Edition for free download. Mail Watcher notifies users if their e-mail software attempts to generate an e-mail on its own. Content Inspection scans e-mail attachments for file types most commonly used by virus writers and monitors executable attachments while they run.

• Finjan Software (www.finjan.com) released a free version of its SurfinGuard software for home users. SurfinGuard runs e-mail attachment programs in a "sandbox" (or safe zone) to see what they do. If they attempt to delete files, open network connections, or perform any unauthorized activity, they will be kept in quarantine.

• Aladdin Knowledge Systems (www.aks.com) offers a free version of its eSafe software for home users. Like Finjan's SufinGuard, eSafe runs attachments in a safe zone to monitor their activity. If they attempt to perform any unauthorized activity, such as delete files, they are kept in quarantine.

Remember though: As I mentioned earlier, Proactive Anti-Virus software is most effective when used in conjunction with Virus Scanning Software. Arm your system well by ensuring that you also have one of the following installed on your system:

• McAffee has a very nice virus section on their site. It includes virus alerts, a useful section explaining what to do when you have been infected by a virus, and regular updates to their anti-virus software for both PCs and Macs. This is the software we rely on to defeat any virus threats. We simply could not survive without it. To check out what McAffee has to offer, go to http://www.mcaffee.com/

• Symantec's AntiVirus Center also has virus alerts and regular updates for both PCs (Norton AntiVirus) and Macs. I do not find their virus section to be as well organized as McAffee's ... but all the information you will need is there! I find their update system to be the most user-friendly that I've seen. Check out http://www.symantec.com/nav/

• You can also take a look at Dr. Solomon's web site and software. They cater to European markets and have software in a variety of languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish and more. To learn more, go to: http://www.drsolomon.com/home/home.cfm

These days, virus protection is not a luxury -- it's a necessity! If you want to be successful online, then you need to be smart about protecting your valuable information. Do it TODAY!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Internet marketing expert Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to successfully start, build, and grow their own profitable online businesses on small budgets. To get instant access to the step-by-step strategies, tools, and resources he's used to grow just $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit: http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/4012

Destroy CrackSpider Spyware

इ recently had a problem with spyware on my new laptop. I was surfing the web and I can only assume that while doing so I picked up some spyware. To put it more accurately it turned out to be malware. I normally run Ad-Aware SE Plus on my laptops here in the office to check for spyware and malware. So two days ago I ran Ad-Aware SE Plus and after about twenty minutes it notified me that I had picked up something called CrackSpider while surfing. I had never heard of CrackSpider but here it was on my laptop.

It’s a funny thing about me, viruses and spyware. I tend to be unusually affected when I get a virus or spyware on any of my computers. I take it very personally. Its as if it’s me that’s infected with some nasty little virus of my own. It’s a totally vicarious experience. I become obsessed with getting rid of it. I'll actually spend hours doing research and downloading software until I can find a way to get rid of it. This is how I've spent the last three days since finding out about the infection.

I started out using Ad-Aware SE Plus to deal with this particular malware since it was the application that first alerted me to the fact that I had it. Turns out my laptop was infected with a little script called CrackSpider. CrackSpider gives hackers the ability to take over certain functions of your computer. The Computer Associates eTrust EZ Antivirus software I use is great at destroying viruses but didn’t even recognize that I had malware on my laptop. I felt pretty secure knowing the Ad-Aware SE Plus would be able to eliminate the threat without any problem. After all it did recognize the CrackSpider script right?

I must have run the Ad-Aware SE Plus twenty five time over the past three days. I would use the delete function of Ad-Aware SE Plus and it would seem to delete the CrackSpider but I’d reboot the laptop and there it was again. The only good I got out of Ad-Aware SE Plus in this situation was that it told me Internet Explorer and Messenger were the possible weak spots in my system. Also that IE and Messenger were the ways hackers were trying to gain control of my laptop. I got many warning notices from Ad-Aware SE Plus after reboot and during scans that some hacker was trying to gain control of my system but still delete function after delete function was only temporary. CrackSpider would reappear after every scan and every reboot. Talk about frustration!

I already had Zone Alarm Pro installed on my machine and after careful examination of its capabilities I found out it had a spyware component built it. I ran it once and it did not even recognize that there was any malware on my system even after two scans.

My next attempt at getting rid of CrackSpider was by installing Spy Cleaner on the laptop and running it. Three scans by Spy Cleaner did not reveal that CrackSpider was present. However, running the Ad-Aware SE Plus again showed that CrackSpider was still present and still making attempts at controlling my computer. Still Ad-Aware could not delete it.

For some reason I thought that by going to the Microsoft site I could get information about this little malware demon. Oh yes! For me it took on demonic proportions. I was getting angrier by the moment. You would think that the effort and know how it took to develop and deploy a script or app to cause me this kind of headache could have been used to do something positive. Or to develop something that could be used to help people. Anyhow, I used the search function on the Microsoft site to find out all I could about malware and spyware to try and figure out how to destroy it. I’m running Windows XP so if they developed XP I figured they could give me some good advice. I happened across a link on the Microsoft site for a program called Spybot Search and Destroy. Well, it was free to download and I figured I had nothing to lose. I installed it and ran it. The scan report generated by Spybot Search and Destroy told me CrackSpider was able to deny spyware elimination software the ability to even recognize it. But Spybot Search and destroy did just what its name says it could. It searched out and destroyed CrackSpider. Hallelujah!

Well that was the end of my little debacle and the end of this article. I highly recommend Spybot Search and destroy. I need to say that each of the software programs in this article can probably handle numerous spyware and malware programs or scripts. And that in all probability they each have their areas of specialization. This situation and the way I handled would never be considered a lab study or tech research. But you can take it for what its worth. Good surfing!